Two men use ladder to break into Brooklyn Chabad; attack man with gardening tool

Two men broke into this Brooklyn building and assaulted a sleeping man. (Councilman David Greenfield)

MIDWOOD, Brooklyn — Two men assaulted a sleeping man after they used a ladder to break into a Brooklyn Chabad building, police said.

The Avenue J building is used by Chabad, a Jewish organization, to house people who have fallen on hard times.

A 56-year-old man sleeping on the building’s third floor had a rude awakening early Sunday, police said. Two men used a ladder to enter his room on the building’s third floor. The window was broken.

They woke the man, threatened him and demanded property, police said. The men hit the victim over the head with a gardening tool. He suffered lacerations to the head.

The two men took the victim’s money, credit cards, phone and laptop, police said. They fled the scene and no arrests have been made.

Councilman David Greenfield is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. He was especially disturbed the crime occurred during the Jewish holiday of Passover, or Pesach.

“As we celebrate Pesach, it is especially disturbing to find out that a shul’s caretaker was assaulted and that the shul was robbed during this important holiday,” Greenfield said in a statement. “It’s more important now than ever that that we unite as a community and find the hateful criminals who did this.”